Flying Away
by 1withthepotionsseveroussnape
Summary: Takes place the summer before GoF. Harry does some inventing, doesn't go to the Quidditch world cup, decides he doesn't want to go back to Hogwarts, befriends Dudley, gets a job and more. Only to be dragged back to Hogwarts to compete in the Tri-Wizard tournament.
1. Chapter 1

_**BEWARE!**_ This is somewhat AU. If you want the real deal, go re-read the books (which JK Rowling owns, not me.)

I think that I am the first person to come up with a fanfic like this but then again who knows, there are probably over 800,000,000 Harry Potter fanfics on this site alone, never mind the countless other sites!

Soo… if you know of any fics like this, TELL ME! Please!

The 2nd day of summer vacation before the Goblet of Fire.

I am soooo bored. I wish something would happen.

Just then Pigwidgeon, Ron's new owl, came hurling through my window.

Harry,

Guess What! My Dad got me tickets for the World Cup! Isn't that cool! Mione says hi. Dumbledore says that it would be too dangerous for you to go, sorry mate, maybe next time. I probably won't see you again until the train.

-Ron

Great. Way to make my bored mood fall into a sinkhole and come out angry as a troll in a tutu.

I went downstairs as a commercial break flickered onto the Television screen. 'Come hang-gliding today and experience the feeling of gliding through the air.'

Quidditch on the mind, I had a possibly brilliant idea. Combining muggle technoledgy with magic, I could create something even better than a broom!

Maybe I'll look into it.

Half an hour later.

"Um, Aunt Petunia… I am going to the library, Ok."

"Be back in time to cook dinner."

With that I headed to the library where I found some books on muggle flight and on wind sails. I spread my pile of books out across the table and put a stack of note cards in front of me before pulling the first book over and started reading.

Stretching, I looked at my clock, 5:45.

"AHH! I'm Going To Be Late."

Everyone in the library turns to look at me.

'Oops.' Then I run to the counter and check out my books, I grab them and run as fast as I can back to Privet drive.

"Your late boy! Where were you. Better not have been something… freaky. Well, what are you standing around for boy! Cook the supper. You burn anything and you won't be eating till tomorrow."

"Yes uncle Vernon. I was at the library."

"What were _you _doing at the library?" he says, eyes squinted like he was trying to see through any fib I might be telling.

Walking to the kitchen I said, "I am going to be here the whole summer and I was researching an idea I had." I dump five sausages into a pan, peas into another, and pasta into a third.

"What type of idea?" Vernon asks me.

Surprised that he was bothering to converse with me, I answered, "I love flying on my broom but I want to make it more entertaining and challenging." Aunt Petunia enters and sits down, "I am thinking about combining hang-gliding with my type of flight, it has potential, and I will be able to market it if it works. Of course, I'll need funding for the prototype, so I'm going to need a job, know where I can get one?" I ask as I set a platter infront of my uncle.

"There is a job bulletin in the super market." My aunt says.

I put the last two platters down as Dudley comes in, I can't help but notice that he is remarkably thinner. He sits down takes one sausage and a portion of pasta and peas.

I sit down as well, putting a little pasta and a small serving of peas on my plate. I am half way through with my supper when Dudley puts a sausage on my plate.

I look up at him startled.

He grins and says sheepishly, "I'm trying to lose weight. Plus, you look like you could use it."

Warily, I say "Thanks Dud." And bite into the sausage. Well, it isn't poisoned.

After dinner I decided to send an owl to Florish and Blotts asking for books on spellwork for brooms. I wrote the letter and sent it off before reading some more.

"Uhg, Oliver, I don't care if we have Quidditch practice. Let me sleep." I mumbled.

The poking continued.

I opened my eyes to glare at whoever it was that dared interrupt my sleep. "Dudley?"

"Hi. Out of curiosity, Who's oliver?"

"Hn, oh. He's my quidditch captain, He like to make us practice in the foulest of weathers and in the worst conditions."

"What's quidditch?"

I smack my head. How could I forget that I was talking to Dudley, someone who doesn't know anything about the wizarding world.

"Quidditch is a sport that wizards and witches play. We play flying on our brooms. On each team there are three chasers who fly around trying to score, one goalie, two people who carry bats and hit balls at other players trying to knock them off their brooms, and one seeker. The seeker flies around looking for the golden snitch. The snitch is a ball that flies very quickly. Catching the snitch gives your team 150 extra points and is the only way to end the game. I play Seeker."

Then I told him about my idea and about the wizarding world.

He listened and told me about being bullied at school and how it made him realize that all he had ever been was a bully and that bullies were not good and how he is now determined to be better.

"But the problem is, is that I already have a rep around here. I don't know how to change it."

"I am going through the same thing. Everyone thinks that I am a delinquent too."

"We sure do have a lot of work ahead of us don't we?" Dudley said.

"Yeah. Hey, speaking of work I have to get a job today, do you want to come check the billboard with me?"

"Sure."

AN: What type of job should harry get? Should Dudley get a job? If so what? Tell me. Otherwise you will never get another chapter! Anything from sales-person, coach, dancer, performer, clown, circus person, be creative, anything, any idea, but you have to tell me.


	2. Chapter 2

WARNING!

I need _EVERYONE'S_input if there are going to be more chapters.

_**WHAT SHOULD HARRY"S JOB BE?**_

"Hold on," Dudley says, stopping me before I go out the door. "I am going to get us some money.

"What, how?"

He smirked before scrunching up his face and walking into the sitting room where Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were watching TV.

Then, in a whiney voice he says, "Mum, I want to go to the movies with my friends."

Vernon immediately says, "You treat them to some snacks, show them how good a family we are. Here's 25 pounds."

Dudley shuffles forward and grabs the money, "Great, bye."

He holds the money up with a smug grin. I just roll my eyes.

We leave the house and are crossing the yard when the person at number 5 sees us and quickly drops her watering can and runs inside where she proceeds to watch us nervously from the front windows.

We crack up laughing, I am shaking with laughter when realization hits.

This person is so scared of us that she runs inside at the mere site of us.

"We have more work to do than I expected." I say sighing. Dudley immediately stops laughing.

"Yeah."

Now somber, we continue our trek to the super market.

We don't make it very far. My hand-me-down sneakers which I have had for three years and are held together by glue and tape, finally gave up their fight.

Yes, my shoes fell completely apart. One minute I am walking with both feet in my shoes, and the next minute there's a loud 'rrrrrriiiiippppp' and my sock covered foot connects with the hot pavement.

"Youch!"

"Harry?"

"My shoe fell apart." I say gritting my teeth.

"Is there any chance of fixing it?"

"No." and I know that the Dursleys won't buy me new shoes. I'll just have to deal with it, I think grimly.

I get up and stuff the irreparable shoe into a pocket of my much too big, raggedy jeans. I take a step forward and wince. The sidewalk has no right to be this hot!

I look up to see two boys roasting an egg on the sidewalk across the street.

Dudley looks at me, thinking. Then, without warning he crouches down.

"Get on my back."

I just stare at him.

"You can't possibly be thinking about walking the rest of the way to the supermarket with only one shoe."

"I'll manage."

He looks at me skeptically.

I determinedly walk forward, wincing every other step. 'I can do this.' I think even as I grit my teeth and resist the urge to hop from foot to foot to relieve my feet from the heat.

We come to the end of the block and start crossing the street.

"YYOOOOWWWW!" I screech as I jump in the air, landing on my bottom.

"Yikes, that's HOT!" I say clutching my foot. That's when I notice, my other shoe has just died as well. My threadbare socks offer little protection, and when I jumped I manage to rip my socks and scrape my

feet.

"Are you ok?" Dudley asks me.

"Yeah." I respond. He looks at me, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

I stand shut my eyes against the pain from the cuts on my feet and finally give into the temptation to hop from foot to foot when to my shock, Dudley speaks up, "Ok. You can either let me carry you on my

back or I will pick you up and carry you bridle style."

My jaw drops open and I splutter, "What-no-you-ah-no."

He moves to pick me up.

"Fine!" I raise my arms in surrender and climb on Dudley's back.

He stands up and walks across the street. We have reached the middle of the next block before anything is said between us.

It was Dudley who finally broke the silence between us. "You know, you're really light."

"So?"

"I propose a deal, I need to loose wait, and you need to gain weight-"

I cut him off.

"I weigh enough thank-you-very-much."

"Fine then, You Will Be Going on a diet as well. A diet to help you _**gain**_ weight. Now, I am pretty sure that my parents will probably ignore the diet again like last year. Instead of relying on them, we will change the amounts of food given to us. I will eat only enough and I will put a size able amount of food onto your plate. I know that I will be tempted, and I am sure that you will fall back into habit and not eat much. So we have to watch each other and help each other out."

This is actually not a bad plan. "Let's try it."

By this time we have reached the supermarket I have gotten over the embarrassment of Dudley carrying me piggy back style, like a 5 year old.

I see two girls a few years younger than us leaving and hear them say, "Hey, they look like Freak the Mighty."

'Well, that's rude!' I think as I duck so as not to be decapitated by the door frame we are walking through.

"Dudley, you can let me down now."

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

I get down and start walking to the bulletin board only to fall flat on my face as I slip on the plastic tile covering the floor.

"Ow."

The employee at the register turned to us and said in a snobbish voice, "No shoes, no shirt, no service. Get out!"

I groan and we both leave. I sit outside and examine my feet more thoroughly. They are partly covered in blood from the many cuts, and a bright red from being burned and are starting to get puffy. That can't be good.

* * *

**If you want to read more, you have to tell me what type of job you want to see Harry get!**

SO REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**An:** Hi readers! First of all, thank-you to those of you who support this fic through reviews, favorites, and subscriptions. second, I am still running low on ideas and would be eternally grateful for any help in that department. Also, this fic remains unbeta'd, if anyone is interested in the position please let me now asap. 

Happy reading!

Chapter 3:

"Your feet look like they hurt."

"They're fine."

"You shouldn't be walking around. We should find someone to help you."

"NO! I don't want anyone's help!"

"Harry, I know that I have been really terrible to you over the years, but I have changed. I'm on your side now."

"I know that Dudley."

"Then why won't you let me help you!"

"BECAUSE I DON"T NEED HELP!"

"YOUR FEET ARE BLOODY BURNED AND ARE PROBABLY GOING TO GET BLOODY INFECTED!" Dudley said standing up, his face turning purple making him look remarkably like Uncle Vernon.

I was quiet for a moment. Then, in a quiet voice I said, "I've had worse."

There was silence.

I sighed and got up, ready to start walking. I didn't have a destination in mind, but no matter, anything would probably be more productive than sitting on a bench outside a grocery store staring at my feet.

I stopped when Dudley's response finally came, "Wait, what?"

"Never mind." I took a step forward, wincing and grit my teeth as an explosion of pain shot through my feet. I had just stepped in the shards of a broken beer bottle.

" #%&$!" I fall, pulling my feet in close to my body, eyes and jaw clenched in agony, tears streaming down my face.

Then, something that made absolutely no sense happened. 'Why was I going up?'

"HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" I yelled, unknowingly attracting the attention of a few shopkeepers.

Dudley had picked me up. "Calm down. There is no way in hell that I am putting you down! You have **glass** embedded in your feet!"

_-Dudley's POV-_

"PUT ME DOWN!" he sobbed

"No, I will not put you down!" the shopkeepers, still unnoticed by the boys, had come to the doors of their shops to see what the commotion was about. They found a large boy (well known in this part of Surrey for vandalism and bullying,) holding a small, skinny boy with dark hair and glasses (a rumored delinquent,) up by the waist, a good eight inches above the ground.

"LET GO OF ME DUDLEY!" he yelled, thrashing.

"Calm down."

Harry did not calm down. In fact, he just got worse, writhing and screaming obscenities at Dudley.

One of the shopkeepers approached and was about to break up the fight when something Dudley was saying made him pause.

"Your feet are too injured for you to walk right now. We need to find someone who can help you."

Finally worn out, Harry stopped fighting and just hung limp.

As soon as Dudley felt the fight leave Harry, he shifted his hold so that he was carrying him more comfortably in his arms.

The shopkeeper chose that moment to speak up. "What's going on here?"

With a start Dudley and Harry looked up.

When they didn't answer, the shopkeeper repeated the question more firmly, "What's going on here?"

"My cousin injured his feet…"

"Well, why don't you come on into my shop and I'll see if I can't help you out." said another shopkeeper.

Looking down at Harry who was about to go all defensive again, Dudley quickly nodded. The shopkeeper who had offered to help, turned to enter a small cheery establishment, the other shopkeeper and Dudley (still carrying Harry,) followed behind him.

Once in, the shopkeeper motioned for me to put Harry down on one of the seats along the wall. I did, sitting next to him to keep him from trying to stand up. He just glared at me.

The shopkeeper spoke, "I'm Donald Peterson, call me Don."

The other shopkeeper cleared his throat before introducing himself, "Name is Michael Holton, please call me Mike. I own the bakery next door."

It turns out that instead of the shop I had expected it to be, it actually turned out to be a studio for… just about every type of art medium. Don came over with a med kit and Harry tensed. Before he could dart away, I grabbed him and held him still. Don pulled out some antiseptic ointment, Advil, tweezers, scissors and some bandages and fifteen minutes later, he had finished wrapping Harry's feet in bandages. I thanked him and got up. Turning, I saw Harry attempting to stand up. I placed my hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"Darn it Dudley! Let me up!" He yelled.

"No. Your feet are really badly damaged; you aren't going to be standing anytime soon!"

He glared at me but stayed silent, thank goodness. Assessing the situation, I knelt down in front of him and told him to hop on my back. As we made our way out of the studio, Harry called out for me to stop. "We can't go back yet! We still haven't completed our mission." He grabbed my hair and steered me around to face the two shopkeepers, "Do you know of any job openings around here?"

"Maybe," Mike said. "I'll need to double check with her but I have a friend who is currently looking for some help. I'll talk to her and if you meet me at my bakery sometime tomorrow I should have an answer for you."

"I'll be sure to keep my ears and eyes open, stop by here tomorrow too, why don't you." Don added.

"Thanks that would be great!" Said Harry.

"Bye." Harry and Dudley called, walking out the door.

The two shopkeepers waved and responded calling "See you tomorrow!"


End file.
